Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Rock Creek Women’s Resource Center adds support groups

Photos and story by Meryl Lipman

Last Monday, for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Day of Service,” Rock Creek student leaders collected over 4,000 pounds of food for the Oregon Food Bank. But even as the cans and staples are being distributed, Rock Creek Women’s Resource Center’s Kristen Martin, a key coordinator of the food drive, has been busy starting three new activities for her students.

The first, a women’s support group, will meet on Mondays, 4 to 5 p.m., starting Jan. 24. The group will gather in the Room 103, Building 2, Rock Creek, from where they will move to a more private space for an open discussion. The second, a co-ed parenting support fellowship, will meet Tuesdays, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., starting Jan. 25, also starting out in the Room 103, Building 2 and migrating to a more private room.

And the third will be an open 12-step group focusing on recovery from drug, alcohol and compulsive eating addictions. This group will meet every Thursday, noon to 1 p.m. in Room 106, Building 7, and is open to faculty and staff as well as students. Martin promises that, when combining faculty, students, and staff into one support group, “the 12th tradition of anonymity will be held as sacred.”

Martin conceptualized the three groups based on student feedback during fall term.

“What we found regarding the women’s group is that women wanted to connect outside the classroom, but the WRC was not always the most private place to talk,” she said.

The plan for the parenting group came out of domestic violence programming last fall.

“October is domestic violence awareness month and our (events) started the conversation about spanking and yelling at one’s kids,” Martin added. “Out of that came the idea to have a group where students could talk about parenting strategies. It’s a big need.”

In the midst of scheduling 12-step and other meetings, Martin, her staff and student leadership continue to separate and sort the myriad cans they collected at 10 Washington County grocery stores this past Monday, hoping that fewer students will go hungry this term as a result.